From the DVOC mailing-“Rule change – Beginning today, any bird seen on or over “any body of water” within 50 miles of the political boundary of a state can be counted for that state. The term “any body of water” includes offshore waters, inshore waters, lakes, ponds, rivers, etc. Comments by the committees – The committees are aware that the ramifications of this change will be monumental. While this will certainly change offshore pelagic listing, it will have a greater effect on general birding. For instance, a bird seen on or over Lilly Lake (Cape May County, NJ) could previously only be counted on a birder’s New Jersey list. But now, since Lilly Lake is “body of water” and is less than 50 miles from Delaware, a bird seen on or over Lilly Lake can now be counted on a birder’s Delaware list.
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One exciting aspect about living in the country during the winter is the flocks of birds that attend to the local manure covered fields. In fact, Lancaster County can attract blackbird flocks that number in the hundreds of thousands. Usually comprised of Brown-headed Cowbirds, European Starlings, Common Grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds, these flocks can also contain rare gems like Yellow-headed Blackbirds and Brewer’s Blackbirds. European Starlings Gulls can also form large flocks at these fresh manure spreads and often drift from field to field in large swirling masses. As far as I can tell, Ring-billed Gulls make up the majority of these flocks with maybe a few Herring Gulls thrown in here or there. If anyone knows of other gulls that frequent these manure fields, please let me know so I can keep an eye out.
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As seen on the front page of Nature.com, feeding birds during the winter is not only fun for the people feeding them. According to a British study, feeding birds in winter benefits them during the breeding season by allowing them to lay their eggs 2.5 days earlier on average than birds that did not have access to winter food. Birds that had been fed all winter also managed to raise an average of almost one more chick each year. House Finches and American Goldfinches The researchers looked at 500 nest boxes in N. Ireland, feeding some lucky birds more than 6 tons of peanuts and allowing the others to find their own natural food sources. The researchers think that the nutrients in the peanuts allow for better egg laying so the benefits may be different for various kinds of bird food.
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There is a story on BBCNews.com currently reporting on the finding that Anna’s Hummingbirds chirp with their tail. Using high speed video, some researchers were able to see the male’s tail feathers vibrating during their display flights. These display flights are exceptional because they can reach 50 mph in a dive to impress nearby females and it is this high speed dive that causes the vibrations. Click here to watch the video of the display flight and here is the link to the story. In other hummingbird news, two 30-million old fossils from Germany are the oldest known hummingbirds. One interesting part of this find is that they are in the Old World while hummingbirds only occur in the Americas.
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A recent paper published at nature.com revealed how fickle the female Lark Buntings are when it comes to picking a mate each spring. It is generally thought that females of most bird species select their partner based on a few traits that lead to that trait being exaggerated in the male. A good example of this is the peahen picking the peacock with the gaudiest tail year after year which drives natural selection towards even larger and gaudier tails (providing they aren’t so large that it makes them too easy for a fox to catch.) Lark Buntings on the other hand, seemed to select for varying traits from year to year. In a 5-year study in Colorado, scientists found that females first selected for larger beaks, then the next year selected mates based on how dark their plumage was.
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There is an immature Snow Goose thats been hanging out at Greenfield Ponds for quite a while with some really beat up looking domestic geese. It’s pretty funny to see the little guy hanging out with those four guys towering over him.
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Here is a great look at how the new iPod Touch is being used by a guide in Brazil as a tool to store bird calls, pictures and videos.
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On Monday I headed to Cape May, NJ with a friend to look for a Dovekie that had been reported on Two Mile Beach. There was also a Barnacle Goose hanging around and both of these birds would have been lifers for me. Red Crossbills and an Ash-throated Flycatcher were being seen on Cape May Island which would both be my first in NJ so it seemed like a lot of potential in one day. Unfortunately, not a single one of those really neat birds showed up for us. We did manage not see some other good birds including 5 sandpipers including Western and Purple, all three scoter species and several half-hardies such as Gray Catbird, Brown Thrasher, Hermit Thrush and Eastern Towhee.
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I took this lovely sunset picture after an unsuccessful search for Lapland Longspurs and Snow Buntings in the farm fields near my house.
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